Loire à Vélo: Orléans to Angers

Day 1: Arrival in Orléans
You will arrive in Orléans, the luminous "City of Art and History" that Joan of Arc famously freed from the English siege in 1429. Take your time to wander its elegant streets, admire the Gothic cathedral, and settle into the rhythm of this proud Loire city.

Day 2: Orléans – Beaugency (26 km; +85 m)
You will set off along the wild banks of the Loire, riding through a landscape of calm and quiet water. The path leads you gently to the very flowered town of Beaugency, where medieval towers reflect in the river and a timeless atmosphere invites you to linger.

Day 3: Beaugency – Blois (46 km; +130 m)
You will follow the river through forests and open clearings until the breathtaking silhouette of the Château de Chambord appears — the largest château of the Loire and a masterpiece of the Renaissance. You will then ride on to Blois, whose royal château unfolds four centuries of French architecture, from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.

Day 4: Blois – Amboise (42 km; +200 m)
You will take quiet country roads past hedgerows and small villages until the elegant Château de Chaumont rises above the Loire. You will descend towards Amboise and its royal château, and just a few streets away discover Clos Lucé, the last home of Leonardo da Vinci, now a museum devoted to his genius.

Day 5: Amboise – Tours (30 km; +100 m / or 53 km via Chenonceaux; +285 m)
You will ride through the sun-kissed vineyards of Montlouis, where cellars offer tastings of delicate sweet and sparkling wines, before reaching the half-timbered heart of Tours and the lively Place Plumereau. For a longer day, a magnificent detour leads to Château de Chenonceau, arching across the Cher, before you return along the Cher à Vélo path. Overnight in Tours.

Day 6: Tours – Azay-le-Rideau (45 km; +95 m)
Leaving Tours behind, you will ride to Savonnières and its fascinating petrifying grottoes, then on to Villandry, whose three-tiered Renaissance gardens are without equal in Europe. A stop in Saché reveals the country house of novelist Honoré de Balzac before you reach Azay-le-Rideau and its jewel-like château mirrored in the Indre.

Day 7: Azay-le-Rideau – Chinon (36 km; +200 m)
You will discover the fairy-tale Château d'Ussé, said to have inspired Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, then ride into the medieval town of Chinon, crowned by its royal fortress and ringed by the vineyards that produce the famous red wine celebrated by Rabelais.

Day 8: Chinon – Saumur (36 km; +200 m)
The Loire à Vélo route leads you through Candes-Saint-Martin and its 12th-century collegiate church, then on to the picturesque village of Montsoreau. You will pass troglodyte dwellings and vineyards before reaching elegant Saumur. An optional detour reaches Fontevraud Abbey, Europe's largest monastic complex and necropolis of the Plantagenet kings.

Day 9: Saumur – Angers (58 km; +305 m)
The longest and most rewarding stage. You will follow the Loire before turning into the Anjou vineyards, ending in Angers — a gracious city whose fortress shelters the Apocalypse Tapestry, one of the great masterpieces of medieval art.

Day 10: Departure
You will bid farewell to the Loire Valley after breakfast. A TGV from Angers reaches Paris Montparnasse in about 1 hour 40 minutes, or you can return to Tours by train in about an hour.